Electric gasifier for internal-combustion engines.



\ v w. n. NICKUM. ELECTRIC GASIFIER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

' APPLICATJON f| LED FEB. 20. 1917. l,247,992. Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

.To all whom it may concern.

WALTER D. monomer GLENDALE, cALiF'oRNm, ASSIGNOR T0 JOHN G. -IZEWIS, or

PORTLAND, OREGON. p

ELECTRIC GASIFIER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Be itknow'n that I, WALTER D. NIC'KUM,

' a citizen .of the United States, residing at.

Glendale; in the county'of Los Angelcs and State of California, haveinvented a new and-useful Electric Gasifier for Interna1-' (,ouibusti'onEngines, of vhichthe following a specification.

I ;tion engine, so as to gasify'fthe fuel, and the qniainob ect of. thepresent invention 18 to be conveniently controlled by .tlie'chaufl'eur.without leaving his seat. 2 i

so r the, electric connections being'indica't'ed d ia-.

grammatically, in the figure.

provide means for efiecting such heating independentlvef or inconjunction with-heat furnished from the exhaust, so asto enableconvenient: and rapid startingof the ma- Another object ofthein'vention, especially Specification of Letters I' atent- Patented'N27, 1'91 7 Application filed February 20,1817.- Seria'l No. 149,848.

means 8, sullicient spacelming left ateach side of the walls of thispa'ssage'means to f permit-flow of 'the-incoming charge up- 'ardlyaround said passage means. A=periinatefd sheet 5', for example ()fji llegauze, is preferablyplaced across the passage 5.

The above-described construction is not This.invention relates to meansfor heat- Hlg the charge; or mixture of-alr andifilcl, passing totheintake of an internal combusin the ease of anautomobile engine, s toprovide for such preheatii'ig of the charge passing to the engine bymeans which can The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of thenvention and referring thereto: 1 I 1 4 Figure 1..is aivertical section,,partly in elevatiom-of one form the invention. Fig. 2. is'a section online 2-2 in Fig; -1,

Fig. 3. is a side elevationshowing the conand exhaust means. a

' In Figs. 1 and 2tthe'1nvention lS'ShOWIl as nectio'ns of 'thedevicetd-the enginesupply ,applied in connection withheating means. utilizingthe heatof the exhaust to heat the incoming charge; said heating-meanscom" prises for example,-a casing-l provided with a chamber 2, havinginlet and outlet-passages 3 and 3, whereby it may be connected to 1pipes indicated at 4 and}? for conducting the exhaust gases therethroughand said, casing '1 being/formed with averti cal passage 5 extendingwithin the chamber 2Jand connected for example, by' pipe' connections.in-

- dicate'd atli, and 7 tO-i'QCQlVG the charge or mixture of air and fuelpassing from the carburetor 9 to the intake means of the enginc.Saidchamber 2 is'also shown as proclaimed herein, but is illustrated asshowing a form of a mixture heater, with "which my invention isspecially adapt-ed fOFllSO.

'l\l invention coinprisesfan electric heat-' 'illg element or unit"mounted on the central passage means 8 aforesaid, so as. to be'exposedto the incoming mixture-ore arge. as 'it passes upwardly around saidtpassage' means 8 Said heating unit may c nsist of. a cup shaped casing11 screwing tnto the bottom Wall of said passage means 8,'a heatpig coil'12 of resistance wire mounted in said casing and insulated therefrom bymeans of finsu'lation indicated at 14, a cap member 10 'scrcwing on thesaid casing 11 and m'eans 'for supplying current to said resistance coilor wire. Inorder to supply current tothe resistance coil or wire, anysuitableconnection means may be used, for" example a metal 16 mounted onthe outercasing. '.,-1 ,a'ntl within the heating unit casing 11 aii d'hto' r v v n i\ a contact pin 18 mounted within said 1 sulating'plug,the said wire or rod 15 bein winrodo'r wire 15,1nay .extend throughafitube through an insulating plug- 17 men t edsulatml as indicatedat 20 vand being' pm i'ided-With suitable means, such as nuts 21 at itsouter end for connecting a circuit ire thereto; .The device described,may in the case of an automobile engine be energized and operatedbycurrent from the usual bat tery of tl' cignition planter of the lightingplant; the battery, indicateitat 23, being connected by Wire 24 to aswitch 25, from I which a wire 27 leads to the terminalmeans 21aforesaid. One end of thefresistance'wire 18 connected by screw 29 tothe connecting.

wire 15 and the other end is connected by screw 30 to the resistanceunit casing which is grounded or connected throng the] metal parts ofthe apparatus with the other sid'eof the. battery, gr'oundconnections tothe-latter bein'gindicated by dotted line. 32.

' vided with ,a branch 8,tor passageineans,

which extends through the passage 5 atomsaid, so that part of theexhaust gases pass directly through this additional passage Thecontrolling switch 25 may be-conven-- iently located-on the dash boa rdor elsewhere convenienttdthe chauffeur.

The operation of the device above described is as follows:' In startingthe m8.-

chine, the switch is closed and the-cur rent from battery 23' flowsthrough wire-24,

switch25, conducting rod 15, pin 18,- resist-- ance wire 12, casing 11,and through ground back to the battery. The heat generated by thecurrent flowing through the resistance wire war the casin 11'of theheating unit 'andaa so warms t e. ad-

' jacent part of the wail from the ca-rhju'reter:

the mixture of air an tomlzed'iuel passing o heated by contact with theparts so: warmed, sufliciently to vaporize or gasity any llqllldfuelpresent in the mixture. and insure. ex-

ams. V

through the mititure passage, the samev metal that is utilized toconduct heat from the exhaust gases to the mixture is also used -toconduct heat from the electric heating element to the mixture. Moreover,as the elec-- orfpassage 8, so that to the engine intake 'is lesion orcombustion of the mixture when "it is compressedand ignited in thecylinder,

' Kiid also insure that all of the fuel will be carried forward with themixture; and that none willbe condensed on the walls of the Ltions,.forexamplqwheo h togasigt, either by reaspnof'the engine bean or byreasonof the lack of volapassages By preh manner startingoff e on inc isinsured and accelerated, even. under} nfevorableicondithe'fu'el isdifiicult col tillty'of-the fuel. In fact with this device it is"possible to use distillate or similar cheap-and 'comparativelnon-volatile fuels,

without involving any ifliculty in starting the engine, or requiringpriming or starting withasolene, or preheating with torches,

oreove'r, the devicoma be brought.

Y into operation by the chau car, without leaving his seat, and when theen under-way the electric-heating cvice may ting the charge in this trioheating element is completely surrounded by, the mixture, the heat from'said ele-' ment is full utilized in heating the mixture. What I c aimis:

i 1. In combination w th an internalcombustion-en inc and a carbureterconnected to theinta e the'reof, a heating means con-. nected to receiveexhaust gases from the engine, and provided with a passage connected toreceive mixture passin fronrthe carhureter to the engine,an ,havins.;wall adapted to receive heat fromsal vexhaust .gases and to transmitsuch heat to the mix i 'ture in said passage,'and un ele ctric heatingelement mounted in saidwall of. said assage in such-manner as totransmit eat from said electric heating element to said mixture through,the same wall-thattransmits'the heat to the mixture-from the ex? haustgases. p 2. Incombination with an internal combustion engine havinga'carhureter, an, in: tn'kc connection from said cnrhureter to-theengine and an exhaust connection from the V gins is well a he cut outof. operation, hyopening switch 2,5, While the vehicle is in motio'msoas to utilize the heat of ithe exhausty passing. {through the passagemeans'8 and chamber 2, for heating the iniziture, and thereby reduce thedemands ontlie battery. In general, the electrical pre-heaitingmeansneed he operated for only a minute or so solthat' dry .batteriesmay beused therefor i-f de- The above described construction; has theadvantagethat by mountingthe electric "engine, a heatiny meanscomprising passage e means conncctm inthe connection from t carburetorto the engine and a passage con- Intcstimony whereof I have hereunto setmyv hand, at Los Angeles, California, this heating element in a wallportion that surrounds an exhaust passage andlextends 10th day ofFebruary 1917. A WALTER D. NicK'UM;

